House Flags of German Shipping Companies (b) - part 2

Deutsche Reedereiflaggen (b) Teil 2

Last modified: 2019-07-10 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: biesterfeld | blanke | bloeckert | blumenfeld | blumenthal | blumenthal bose | bockstiegel | boegel | borm | bornholdt | bonner ps | bossler | biendenweg |
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• F. Biendenweg
• Wilhelm Biesterfeld
• Bilgenentölungsgesellschaft
• Blanke Schiffahrts K.G.
• Jürgen Blöckert
• B. Blumenfeld
• J.M. Blumenthal
• Blumenthal & Bose
• W. Bockstiegel Reederei
• Hermann Bögel
• Bonner Personen Schiffahrt
• Carl Borm Reederei
• C. Bornholdt
• Personenschiffahrt Gebr. Bossler

• House Flags of German Shipping Companies
• House Flags of Shipping Companies
• Germany

F. Biendenweg

The company was based in Greifswald. The flag was white displaying a red 7-point star.
Source: Flaggenbuch 1905, part V, p.11, image no.30
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 July 2019

Wilhelm Biesterfeld

Wilhelm Biesterfeld Reederei- und Schiffahrts G.m.b.H. This shipping company existed at least until 1923. The company does exist even today but only as a trading company for chemicals and fertilizers. The company used a red flag with a white diamond touching the edges with a red serifed capital "B".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.229-230.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Bilgenentölungsgesellschaft mbH

A modest company with a simple flag, such is the case of the above firm (the name meaning a company which collects bilge, used oil, and other shipping waste products ) established in that very large inland harbour with lots of flags, Duisburg in Germany.

The company website informs us that BEG, as the name is mercifully abbreviated, was founded in 1961 and at some later date became part of the important Rhenus concern also located in Duisburg. More specifically, BEG is active in the area south of Münster (Westfalia), mainly in the lower Rhine region. In all, eight ships based in different inland ports plus a collecting pontoon and landside storage facilities are operated. According to the website, in 2005 some 23M litres of bilge, 2800 metric tonnes of used oil and 137 metric tonnes of waste products were collected; most of the used oil is recycled.
Collecting these waste products is free I believe, BEG is paid a fee under a government contract.
As they say, somebody has to do it - and as BEG does it proudly and under its own colours, who are we to complain?
Jan Mertens, 4 May 2006

In this message series a pennant was mentioned several times - on the following page, it appears at the start of the first film (a double appearance, in fact) and at the end of the third.
Source: German eBay offer no. 200205623448 (end 16 Mar 2008) put up by "freschkall". Dimensions given as (approx. ) 45 cm x 95 cm.
Jan Mertens, 11 Apr 2008

Blanke Schiffahrts K.G.

Blanke Schiffahrts K.G., Elsfleth - VWV flag, in center white diamond bordered black, black "B".
(Elsfleth is along the Weser river, a little northwest of Bremen.)
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 6 Oct 2005

Jürgen Blöckert

Jürgen Blöckert
The company was located in Flensburg. It is a yellow over celestial blue over yellow horizontal triband, the blue stripe is slightly wider. In the blue stripe are white connected capitals “JB”.
Source: Title: „Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT“; Hamburg 1957; p.F2.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Apr 2009

B. Blumenfeld

B. Blumenfeld, Hamburg - green - white - black triband; white disk, charged with two hammers in saltire and B^DB, all black.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 10 Feb 2005

Bernard Blumenfeld commenced in the coal trade in 1902. After WW2 the firm was restructured by his son Erik who went into politics and became an MP for the CDU Party. Shipowning appears to have ceased in 1965 with the sale of the "Erik Blumenfeld". The flag is shown by various publications but there are small differences between them so the actual design is not clear. The black ring is agreed to by all sources found except Marine News 7/1994 which shows an undefined white circle. The hammer and mallet are generally shown in black but the Masary cigarette cards of 1930 show them with red handles whilst the Lloyd Redereiflaggen cards show a yellowish brown shade. br>The main difference relates to the small "D" shown generally in upper case by British sources but in lower case by German (and Talbot-Booth and US Navy 1961). Brown 1958 actually has it as an "O". Some sources show a horizontal bar beneath this small letter, Lloyds 1912 also adds a black dot after each of the large "B"s. The 2 German cigarette card collections have two lines under the "d", omit the dots after the "B"s but show one after the "d". Otto Mathies in his 1924 "Hamburgs Reederei 1814-1914" has two lines and no dots. The Masary collection also has the flag being used by the subsidiary Norddeutsche Kohle- und Cokes-Werke Akt.-Ges. [sic] which did get its own version as shown on the (n) page.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 Apr 2010

Variant reported 1924

Hammer and mallet have white shafts and the "d" is in lower case and double underlined.
Source: Otto Mathies: "Hamburgs Reederei 1814 - 1914", Hamburg 1924, p.193
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Jul 2012

J.M. Blumenthal

J.M. Blumenthal, Hamburg - white flag with red stripes; in center black "B".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 1 Feb 2005

Blumenthal & Bose

The company was located in Altona (today: Hamburg).
Description of flag:
The white flag was divided by two red horizontal stripes. Between the stripes was a black inscription ""B & B"".
Source: Lloyds 1912 ; p.79, flag no.884
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 9 May 2012

W. Bockstiegel Reederei

W. Bockstiegel Reederei K.G., Emden - per saltire blue - yellow; in center white disk outlined blue; blue "WB".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 23 Oct 2005

Hermann Bögel

Hermann Bögel - The company was located in Bremen-Vegesack. The black flag is divided by two white horizontal stripes. Between the stripes is a shield, divided per bend into a red field with a white key (city of Bremen) and white with a black cross formy(modified from Vegesack borough).
Source: „Flaggen, Schornsteine, Reedereien- Flaggen und Schornsteine der deutschen Reedereien und ihre Schiffe über 300 BRT“; Hamburg 1957; p.F3.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 18 Apr 2009

Bonner Personen Schiffahrt

BPS or "Bonner Personen Schiffahrt" is a tourist shipping company established at Bonn on the Rhine, former capital of West Germany. company site English version.
BPS's ships ply the Rhine between Duisburg and Mainz and part of the Mosel (Moselle), too. As is usual in tourist shipping, day trips are offered as well as theme trips catering to different tastes: a mystery tour, wine tasting, culturally oriented outings, visits to Kölner Zoo, etc. and free trips on your birthday! See the fleet here.
Ships such as WAPPEN VON BONN (i.e. Bonn Coat of Arms) and BEETHOVEN or even party ship POSEIDON may be said to be of the traditional kind, but FILIA RHENI is a catamaran and MOBY DICK' is "very like a whale"!
Some facts gleaned from the history section (German site version only): 'Bonner Motorschiffahrt' (i.e. Bonn Motor Shipping), was a cooperative, founded in 1929. Efforts to maintain traffic during WW2 ended in 1942; at the end of the war, no useable vessel was left. However some refloated boats were put into operation for local traffic as most Rhine bridges were destroyed. The first newly built ship was launched in 1949, followed by many more: the fleet counted twelve vessels in 1955. Still a family business (fourth generation now), BPS is still going strong and not averse to new trends as witnessed by FILIA RHENI and MOBY DICK.
The house flag is shown on this page: Yellow field with a white saltire, a large white rectangle in the centre bearing red company intials 'BPS' in a special font.
A previous flag, is found in "Flaggen auf dem Rhein" (1952 ed.): white with green horizontal edges and thin, red italic initials 'BPS'. (I don't know whether the 'Bonner Motor-Schiffahrt' logo on the history page was ever used on a flag, but note the white and green colours.)
Jan Mertens, 3 Jun 2008

Carl Borm Reederei

The company was located in Bremen. The flag was a black over white over red horizontal tricolour with black capitals "CB" in the centre of the white stripe. At the hoist was a white triangle containing a red Hanseatic cross or cross patty.
Source: "Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen"; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.12
Klaus-Michael Schneider,21 May 2009

C. Bornholdt

It is a red flag with two white initials "C" and "B".
Source: Gratis Beilage zu Deicken und Behrmann's Neuen Monatsheften Neue Ausgabe Sommer 1897
Klaus-Michael Schneider and Jörg M. Karaschewski, 29 May 2012

Act.Ges. Bornholdt Granitwerke

It was a red flag with a white lozenge in the centre containing black initials "ABG".
Source: Gratis Beilage zu Deicken und Behrmann's Neuen Monatsheften Neue Ausgabe Sommer 1897
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 18 Jun 2012

Personenschiffahrt Gebr. Bossler

It is a blue flag with red initial "B" in a white lozenge. The company is based in Neckarsteinach and ran several tourist ships since the 1970s.
For further information click here
Source: email from owner Christian Boßler
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 6 July 2019

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